Friday, May 10, 2013

MR. CHEAPSKATE!!

DSC_0011

Ever gone to the store to buy something & then just ended up having a cheapskate fit when you got there? Happened to me again this morning. Cold wet rainy day so figured I'd better get myself out of the house for a awhile to ward of those gray day blues. Had a few things on my grocery list & wanted to pick up a 50' non kinking garden hose at Walmart. Also on that list were a few additional things for the Winnie Wagon. That meant another cruise through Gadget Gulch. I never know when I am in cheapskate mode until I actually find what it is I am looking for. Standing in front of the shelf my mind goes to the sticker price first. And this is where I find out & get my first indication that I am locked in cheapskate mode. Looking at the garden hose this morning my mind immediately begins to rationalize & doubt itself. Do I really, really, need this new hose?  Seemed like such a logical idea just a day before.  But why spend all that money when the existing hose I have had for years still works but drives me batty because it kinks all the time? Can't I just be more patient with the old hose I have & just keep the money in my pocket? No I can't!! Yes I can!! But the new one won't kink. Ya but the old one still works. Yes I can. No I can't.

DSC_0003

HADN’T REALIZED KELLY HAD TAKEN A PICTURE OF ME WASHING THE RIG’S ROOF THURSDAY UNTIL I UPLOADED MY NIKON PICS TODAY & REMEMBER ME TELLING YOU ABOUT THE HIPPY FLOWERS ON THE BACK OF KELLY’S CAR A FEW POSTS AGO……WELL THERE YA GO:))

Same thing looking for a light weight full length mirror to go just outside our bathroom door in the Bago. Found one but justified not buying it because of it's white frame. Ok, that was justifiable but what if it had had a frame of acceptable color. Not a likely purchase because I was firmly entrenched in my cheapskate mode. Even if Walmart would have had a super sale on something offering 2 for the price of 6 I wouldn't have budged. My Gadget Gulch cruise was a mere formality. Looked at some stuff, looked at the sticker prices............and left the store empty handed.

DSC_0026

<<< GOLDEN PRIMROSE MIXED WITH PURPLE PERIWINKLE

By the time I reached the supermarket it was very debatable whether I was even going to get myself to part with a few dollars for a jug of Cranberry juice. Looked at the sticker price & had quite a tussle with myself. After all I had just spent X amount of dollars on gas to drive the short distance from Bayfield to Goderich. Then of course there was the wear & tear on the tires, oil used, & strain on the windshield wipers. Yep I was definitely in heavy duty cheapskate mode alright but knew I had to justify those auto expenses. Left the grocery store with 1 jug of Cranberry Juice, (I needed two) one quart of milk, (should have got 3) a 6 pack of 4 oz Yogurt made by the Acme Cleaning Company with last year expiry dates. (hey, they were cheap) & a small bag of Oatmeal because it was probably the cheapest eatable thing in the whole store. Who knows, on my next shopping trip I could just as easily come home with half a dozen pairs of socks I don't need, 14 bags of Brazilian birdseed, & 3 jars of Dill pickles which I hate. But remember that two for the price of six sale? Yep, sometimes them stores can catch me in a real spending frenzy. Never know what mode I'm in till I get there though.  No wonder the smiley Walmart greeter gives me the big two thumbs up sign when I walk through the door:((

DSC_0015

DSC_0019 DSC_0025

FORSYTHIA & MARSH MARIGOLDS

DSC_0030 DSC_0024 

DSC_0028

A WEE WALK AROUND OUR FRONT YARD WEDNESDAY EVENING AFTER PUBLISHING MY POST

Nice to see the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks in our front yard again.  I had been watching for them & spotted 3 today.  Also had a Cowbird at the feeder.  Aside from some Cardinals it is the Blue Jays this year that are the prominent ones around our feeder station.  Followed closely by Red Wing Blackbirds & a smattering of Grackles.

DSC_9384 DSC_9393

ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAK & A COWBIRD

DSC_9390

TWO MALE GROSBEAKS WITH A FEMALE GROSBEAK

And a Bayfield Bunch welcome to RICK ISNOR for becoming our latest Blog Follower.  A fellow Canadian working in Halifax Nova Scotia with a desire for he & wife Jamie to retire & travel to a warmer climate in true RV’er fashion some day.  Aw, tis a dream many of us have been so fortunately happy to have come true.

DSC_9395

HEY QUIT ROCKING THE BOAT WILL YA!!

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A cop pulls over a guy and says, "Sir, I need you to breathe into this Breathalyser for me." Guy says, "I can't do that. I'm asthmatic and if I do that I'll have a really big asthma attack." "Okay, then I'll need you to come down to the station with me and I'll have to do some blood work, just to make sure." "Sir, I can't do that either. I'm a haemophiliac and if I do that I'll bleed to death." "Okay, fine. Then I need a urine sample from you." "I can't do that either, sir. I'm sorry, but I'm a diabetic and if I do that my sugar will get really, really low." "Okay, then why don't you step out of the car and walk this white line for me," the officer says. "I can't do that either, officer." "Why not?" "Because I'm drunk."

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

14 comments:

  1. I often get into that same cheapskate mode, but then will spend a lot of money on something I could probably do without. If I were you I'd go ahead and get the kink-free hose. Otherwise, every time you deal with the old hose you will be wishing you had bought the new one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You would have NOT liked shopping the little store I had to go to yesterday. We're in Bridgeport, California, and I needed a few things. Since it's the only show in town, I had to really work hard at ignoring the prices - but $4.69 for a tube of toothpaste, and $2.19 for a can of corn really bugged me. Then Don came back from fishing, and said he'd gassed up the truck at $5.19 a gallon - after prices elsewhere had gone below $4. I hope as we head towards Yellowstone we see some cheaper gas prices (except in the park, of course!).

    ReplyDelete


  3. Al,
    I understand that toying with the price tag mood ......
    I think it happens to me most after I have been taken advantage of , or so I feel ....... Just guess I am out to make up the difference or at least feel like I don't want a repeat ....
    Happens especially to me after a repair job on the car or at the house ..... When I feel like I was worked over ..... Not often but when I feel the deal seems suspect , look out ....
    Oh wait, it happens to me after I have sorted things out at home and passed on the excess .... I tend to shy away unless it is a super duper deal and absolutely necessary....
    So I do relate ....thanks always for sharing !!!! Love the birds and the blooms !!!!! Duke sends Pheebs a real friendly tail wag .....

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have always told my husband..."If I ever start complaining about the price of a half a gallon of milk PLEASE tell me!!...I do not want to go down that slippery slope...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Funny how we get sometimes. I find myself going to the store only to leave with nothing because I decided I really didn't need it. I guess we are all a little tight sometimes.

    Boy has spring sprung at your house! Beautiful flowers. Not much here at 7700 ft in UT except rain and snow!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Al, Joe does all the gardening and I do the watering. We had a rubber hose that I had to wind every day and it caused my shoulder so much pain! I think Joe got tired of hearing me complain and bought me a 50' flexible hose. I absouletly love that thing. Best $20 he has spent in a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Have never seen a Grosbeak. Thanks for the photo. I have a huge problem letting go of money. I do not like to shop for groceries, clothes, anything. Sounds like we have a lot in common.

    ReplyDelete
  8. No sense spending all your money today.
    You accomplished what you wanted to do, get out of the house.
    Save some of that money for the next time you want to get out if the house.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh my...i was laughing my head off about your cheapskate-mode. And then the groaner...geez.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love your pictures especially the header of your Bayfield digs. Your description of cheapskate mode fits me to a tee. Best for me to leave the shopping to others and avoid the in the head arguments with myself.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I totally get the whole cheapskate mood. I get that too!!! By the way never congratulated you on the new new rig. She sure is pretty!
    Nina

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sure do understand about that cheapskate mode. Mine usually happen when Suzy wants to buy something we really don't need and have no room for. But then we buy it anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I call that being very frugal..I have trouble even imagining a family of 5 having to pay those high grocery prices, a couple car payments, a mortgage, school fees and ...whatever else..How do they do it???

    ReplyDelete
  14. The golden primrose and purple periwinkle are beautiful. So glad the birds are busy at your home! I do miss our backyard feeder from when we had a landhouse sometimes...

    ReplyDelete